a psalm of life (the second time around)
by autumnassassin
Summary: Tell me not, in mournful numbers, / "Life is but an empty dream!" . . . In which I drift off from a battle of cancer and wake up. This was not the plan. And somehow now I have to not die. Maybe even change the world as I go along.
1. Chapter 1

A/N: Hi all! This past week has been super stressful (stressful enough where I wrote 12 pages in one day). So yeah, here have my fun, stress induced story. I'm not even going to promise how short this is going to be (17 pages for this chapter, already got 4 pages on chapter two), but based on current plans, I'd say two or three chapters. Have fun!

* * *

_Tell me not, in mournful numbers_

"_Life is but an empty dream!"_

_For the soul is dead that slumbers,_

_And things are not what they seem._

_Life is real! Life is earnest!_

_And the grave is not its goal;_

"_Dust thou art, to dust returnest,"_

_Was not spoken of the soul._

_A Psalm of Life, Henry Wadsworth Longfellow_

* * *

_I always believed that life after death would be peaceful. I was dying from cancer, and I knew that one day I would close my eyes and not wake up. I could see my father and grandmother again, laugh with my brother. I could be with my husband again. I would watch over my children in spirit even if I couldn't be there in person. Six months later, my kids smiled at me and said they would be okay. Then I closed my eyes and let myself drift._

/\/\/\/\

Therefore, waking up is not what I want to do. It isn't what I want to do at all. Not at all. But what I want has no room in wherever I am.

Blinking at the sky, I only have half a second to realize that I've run straight into a wall before the shouting voices have me scrambling to my feet again, taking off down the alley. Before I get too far though, a hand grips my collar and yanks me up, a man staring at me with a bored look on his face.

"This is the third time this week brat. Either get better at stealing or stop stealing. Surely there's some sort of work a brat like you could do?" he says to me, rolling his eyes as I don't respond, dropping me onto the ground.

"Find something better to do brat."

Then he's gone, disappearing in a flash that has me staggering to the side with the weight of where I am. Not on Earth, or at least, not any Earth that I recognize.

_i'm in that child's show that my kid loved_

_what was their name again…..? why can't i remember my kid(s) name?_

Whoever I am now is not loved. I find that out quickly when there's no one searching for me as it grows dark. But following some...thing that I don't quite recognize leads me to an orphanage. A sketchy looking orphanage, but one nonetheless.

I scrounge up a place for myself in the decrepit orphanage, glaring at any other child who attempts to steal my blankets. The first time they hit me, I only wait a second before I hit back, palm straight up into the kid's nose. He falls back with a howl of pain, blood already spurting.

I can't find it in me to care, especially since the orphanage workers have barely looked in anybody's direction all evening. There's a director, but he sits in his office and only emerges once a week it seems, and only to stare at us all.

_Im sorry, you snapped my iwaongev bra, you expect isodf to not react appropriately?_

I end up spending my days running around, trying to find some semblance to the life I once knew. Unfortunately, as I am an orphan, it seems I am destined for one of two paths. A shinobi or a prostitute. From the way the perverted old director stares and licks his lips, it is clear which path everyone expects me to take.

Yeah…no.

There's only one slight problem with this plan.

I'm not in Konoha.

/\/\/\/\

The first time I attempt to enter the academy, the shinobi standing there laughs and sends me on my way.

The second time, he snorts and slams the door.

The third time, he throws me down the street; I barely manage to twist myself around so I roll with the throw rather than simply collapse into a broken pile of small child.

The shinobi from earlier is standing there and watching me with an unreadable expression on his face.

"Why the change?" he asks, watching as I stand up and brush myself off.

Glancing over at him, I look back at the academy, "The orphanage director makes faces. I don't like it. I want to be able to tell men no and back it up."

He says nothing at first. Then, "Prove you belong there. Prove you belong with all of them. You said no before most likely, so you have to prove that you actually want to be there. You might be a bit old for starting, but not by much. We aren't at war right now, so you'd be fine."

I stare at the academy in front of me, then glance down at myself. It's true that I'm not too sure how old this body is, having never been good with ages, but I figure I can't be older than seven. But whatever, if nothing else, this gives me something to do. And if this fails, then I'll find some other person to beg a job from that doesn't include creepy old men.

So the next day, I don't even bother asking. I slip in with the other students. They look sideways at me, but none of them actually say anything. This suits me just fine, and I spend the day in the academy.

As we leave for the day, the shinobi who threw me is standing across from the classroom door, arms folded and looking entirely unamused by my being there. He picks me up by the collar and walks off, depositing me in a quiet corner as he leans against the wall.

"When we visited the orphanage, you said no. In fact, you were very insistent that you would never become a shinobi. What changed."

I set my chin and look him in the eyes, "I'm not giving that pervert director another reason to look at me like I'm something to sell. The next time he does so, I'm going to smash his face in."

The shinobi only raises an eyebrow.

I don't move, staring him down as he stares at me.

"Fine. But you are aware that you have a higher chance of dying."

"Better than being some useless plaything for perverted old men."

He closes his eyes, then opens them, "It might not be any better as a shinobi. In fact, you might get in even more trouble if you smash the wrong person's face in."

I cross my arms and look away from him, "Then I'll become scary enough where they don't dare touch me without permission."

"Alright. Orphans have a village fund they can pull from for basic shinobi stuff. Keep up and you might make it. What's your name kid?"

The name that comes to my mouth is one I don't recognize right away but figure that that just means that I need to make sure that it becomes my name even in my own mind, "Kyoko Tanako."

No one gives me much confidence as I go through the academy. I'm too mature for the other kids, but not smart enough like the one prodigy a class over. It's not like I care that much, I'm more likely to use my fist to smash someone's nose in then to shake their hand pleasantly.

I find that the tanto is amazing and that I have a decent sensing ability. The teacher's eyes sharpen when that knowledge comes out, and I watch him carefully to make sure he isn't going to try anything. But he never does. Graduation comes and I'm assigned to a team.

Hiruko Ito and Daichi Nakamura are my teammates. Hiruko is a member of a clan, wielding his jutsu's as though he is the savior of the team. Daichi barely speaks, more likely to crush things with his bare hands. The lack of any sort of emotion in his eyes worries me. I never really interacted with either of them in the academy, too busy reading or training to the best of my ability. Aki Sato is our sensei. Aki-sensei doesn't look at me or Daichi, too concerned with Hiruko and his propensity to ask for help on high level jutsu's that Daichi and I aren't ready for.

When the two of them straight up blow us two off, not even bothering to show up for training one day, my expression pinches as I look at Daichi. Daichi seems to not care, too busy picking up rocks and crushing them with his bare hands.

"Do you want to practice or no?" I ask him.

He startles, looks up, and seems to realize that there is no sensei nor is there any Hiruko. An ugly expression crosses his face, not even bothering to hide it from me when he turns a glare on me. I only glare back, refusing to bow down in the face of this angry child.

After a couple moments with only glares, he finally huffs and looks away, nodding once.

"Alright. What do you want to do when you're a jonin then?"

He gives me an odd look, but doesn't answer right away, visibly thinking about it before finally answering, "Taijutsu master." Then he picks up another rock and carefully grinds it into dust in his hands, holding out the remains proudly.

"Cool. Where did you learn that?"

"Dad."

I nod slowly when he says nothing else, and offer up, "I'm going to find a wicked katana and use that."

"Kenjutsu." He supplies.

"Right, that. And I won't need stupid sensei for that either."

Daichi offers me a dark grin, one which I don't quite match.

/\/\/\/\

It goes from sensei and Hiruko showing up and doing a mission and some slight training together to sensei not even bothering to showing up. Hiruko shows up sometimes, but the longer it goes with sensei not bothering to appear, the less he appears. Soon it is just Daichi and I training together.

We raid the library for scrolls, applying them the best we can. We appear when other teams are training, although the sensei's are loath to actually let us stay and watch. We get better luck when we watch higher level shinobi train. They indulge us if nothing else.

One kunoichi who I swear is ANBU or the Tsuchikagekage's personal bodyguard has a laugh as she shows us a S-ranked jutsu. Neither of us get it, our reserves are too small, but at the same time, Daichi doubles down and is able to get increasingly stronger simply through training for the jutsu. She also offers me a tanto, obviously old and used, but still in excellent condition. She can't offer me too much advice, having gotten the tanto from a now deceased teammate.

The shinobi from years ago who told me to get better at stealing shows up one day, eyes thoughtful as he watches Daichi and I spar with each other. It's easy to see that Daichi will one day become a monster with his strength, using it to increase the lethality of his jutsus. Of course, it's not until he approaches and calls me brat that I realize this is the same shinobi from all those years ago. He compliments the both of us on our training, taking in our various scrapes and bruises.

He asks about our sensei, about our third teammate. And in this moment I hesitate, because I don't know how to go about saying that our sensei shows favoritism for Hiruko and his clan; clans are such a delicate topic.

Daichi uses some colourful language that has me staring at him wide-eyed. The shinobi blinks once, slowly, but nods.

"Come on brat. Let me see you wield that tanto."

It's my turn to grin wildly at the end of that session, making Daichi roll his eyes. He has been telling me to go bother someone for some kenjutsu tips ever since the ANBU gave the tanto to me.

For two months, this is how the two of us train. It soon becomes almost achingly clear that we are missing one from the three of us. The two of us are an excellent pair of close-range fighters. There are moments when we practice however where the two of us are both retreating and it becomes obvious that we need a long-range fighter.

Daichi and I exchange a look when the shinobi at the time mentions it off-handedly.

And one day, the kunoichi who is probably ANBU hands me a tag with her normal severe expression on her face, "This is for emergencies only. Dire, dire emergencies. I'll tell the others." Looking at the small paper in hand, I give a nod and tuck it into my pouch.

/\/\/\/\

Unlike Konoha, or at least the Konoha I remember from my child- _what was their name? did they have light hair or dark? it gets so hard to remember. look at what we made, isn't py beautiful? –_ Iwa barely regulates their genin and the teams. There are a few low level missions that we go on, either in-village or just outside, but then we are sent on a longer retrieval mission.

Daichi and I exchange glances when it becomes apparent that sensei has something planned. Hiruko is smirking at the two of us. Daichi deliberately drops Hiruko's plate on the ground that evening and doesn't even say anything, just leaves to come sit by my side. In any other situation, Daichi and I would probably never be friends. But here and now we rely on each other as though we are the closest of friends. If we survive long enough that may even end up true.

Sure enough, on our way home from picking up the small statue- delivered by a bleeding shinobi that I guess is probably ANBU- sensei stops and holds up his hand.

"Enemy-nin incoming. Hiruko, take the statue and get back to Iwa. You two, stay here and act as my backup."

There's no one in range and I send an urgent look towards Daichi. Daichi's face doesn't change a lot, just a minute tensing of his body as he cracks his neck.

Sensei barely waits for Hiruko to disappear from sight before he is turning to Daichi and I, kunai raised. But he hasn't been around for weeks- he has no idea how Daichi and I act together, especially in the face of an enemy we were fully aware of. He has no idea of who has been working with us in his absence.

My tanto is already raised as I shunshin to the side, thrusting forward for the small gap between armour plates. Daichi is standing there, feet firmly planted and arms ready. We've practiced for this very situation. But I've never actually completed a shunshin, my chakra not quite enough to get it at this moment in time, and so I'm already breathing hard when I land.

We can't hope to beat him of course, we either have to take him down in the next 20 seconds or we'll be dead. It's easy to see which way our luck will swing.

Sato barely manages to dodge Daichi's grip, rolling out of the way of my lunge. I take half a second to pull out an emergency tag that was given to me as an afterthought and use chakra to activate it, throwing it towards the sky.

It whistles in a high pitch before exploding in a sickly green colour. But then neither of us have the option to be paying any more attention. Sato is already back, expression twisted as he lunges for one of us.

Daichi grabs the kunai and just straight up crushes it in his hand, startling Sato for just long enough as I reenter the fight, tanto swinging in one hand as I grab his hand with my free one. The tanto enters his side with less resistance than I was expecting.

He sucks in a breath but retreats from the two of us. Pressing a hand against his wound, he looks down at the blood on his hand in surprise, then at us in rage.

"Well. Looks like the two brats have some bite to them. When Hiruko's father paid me to only concentrate on him, I thought that meant that this would be easy. I suppose I can humor you a little bit." Sato grins at us, all teeth, and Daichi and I both tense.

Then there's a blur and Daichi and I are thrown apart, crashing into the rocks painfully. Somehow I manage to hold onto my tanto, but my breath is gone, my vision is blurring, and all I can do is let out a pained whine as I slide to the ground.

Daichi's arm is bent at an ugly angle, but he scrambles off to the side just barely avoiding the kunai Sato launches at him. Sato ignores me as he turns fully towards Daichi, and I manage to get my feet beneath me to launch myself towards the two, tanto leading. But Sato turns, catching me with a fist to my ribs. I hear and feel something crack and a cry involuntarily leaves me as he then slams me onto the ground. There's another kunai in hand and I don't have my breath yet to dodge, but Daichi slams into Sato from the side, sending him flying a couple feet.

Daichi's face is pale, broken arm hanging uselessly, but he stands between me and Sato as I finally manage to stagger upright, free arm wrapped around my ribs.

"Ideas?" I manage to choke out, feeling blood creep its way into my mouth. Daichi shakes his head and almost simultaneously we let out a shaky breath.

And that's all the respite we're given before Sato is flying back at us, separating us again. I skitter across the ground and feel how my ribs protest that. Daichi hits a tree hard, and then slides to the ground. I can only watch as Sato stands over Daichi, kunai raised, and I'm sure that I'm about to witness the death of the one person who I kind of like in this new world -_but then I could see my child again, I could see them again, see my…my…my father? see them again_\- and then there's another blur and Sato's head goes one way and his body goes another.

"Brat." Is the greeting and I let out another breath, this time one of relief, "You're going to be the death of me."

Daichi is looking at him with unadulterated awe as he is helped up, and I give him a cheeky grin, "Does this mean you're our sensei now?"

"Brat," he rolls his eyes, but his tone is distinctly more amused than annoyed, "Let's go get you two checked out and then we're all going to face a summons probably. The Tsuchikage is not going to be pleased."

Carefully, I lever myself upright, arm wrapped around my ribs as my entire body. Daichi doesn't look any better, but at least we aren't dead.

We make it back to Iwa exhausted, Daichi and I stumbling over our feet. We're sent to the hospital and it turns out I have a couple cracked ribs, one broken rib, Daichi's arm is broken and he has a slight concussion, we've exhausted our chakra beyond belief, but otherwise are perfectly fine.

Daichi doesn't want to walk all the way home once we're released, so he crashes in my incredibly crappy apartment. There isn't another bed, so we just share, too exhausted to really care.

We're almost asleep when it suddenly hits me.

"Daichi?"

A mumbled acknowledgement.

"What is shinobi-san's name?"

There's a long silence filled with judgement, and then Daichi bursts out laughing, rolling off the bed from how hard he's laughing. I end up joining him, the laughter a tad more hysterical than anything else, but when it finally stops, we lay there staring at the dark ceiling.

"Junzō Amuro"

Another silence.

"I've never heard of him before."

Daichi snorts, and that sets the two of us off again, desperately trying to quell our giggles so no one has any excuse to yell at us.

_but mom, you could have been with dad and grandpa again_

I shut the voice out, slamming the door closed to those memories and instead focus on the here and now with Daichi. If he noticed my odd pause, he says nothing, and the two of us finally manage to fall asleep.

/\/\/\/\

Standing in front of the Tsuchikage is something that I did not want to be doing at this point in my life. He's not pleased with any of us and is making his displeasure seen quite clearly. Hiruko had started out the meeting with a smirk, beginning to tell what was apparently the agreed upon story, but one glare from the Tsuchikage and he is now pale as a corpse, staring at his feet. Daichi and I are standing probably too close together than proper, and are definitely hiding behind Amuro.

"Explain to me why you killed one of our most skilled jonin Amuro. And maybe, just maybe, I won't have you all executed for treason." He says, voice quiet and deadly. Daichi and I exchange wide-eyed glances, suddenly very clearly understanding how he is the top of the village.

"Sato had been neglecting two of his students, preferring to spend time with Ito over the others."

The Tsuchikage says nothing, arms folded as he stares at Amuro.

He continues on as though he isn't being judged hardcore by this old man, "Several others and I have been working with both Nakamura and Tanako, we've found that their skills are worth improving on. Rinzaki made an emergency call for the two, realizing better than us that Sato would be likely to try and get rid of Nakamura and Tanako."

The Tsuchikage narrows his eyes at Amuro, obviously thinking over the situation.

"You, genin. You are of the Ito clan are you not?"

Hiruko quails under the Tsuchikage's gaze, obviously just now understanding the ramifications of being called to stand in front of the head of the village. But no one is feeling kind – _they never do in this world_ – and so Amuro shoves Hiruko forward, expression flat and unyielding.

"My father…." Hiruko starts, flinches backward, then visibly steels himself, "He talked with Aki-sens…." Takes a deep breath in, "With Sato, and he bribed him to concentrate on me."

The Tsuchikage looks entirely unamused by Hiruko's account.

"You and your father then will face the consequences for your actions. We have now lost an excellent jonin due to this plot. We have no room for acts such as this. Take Hiruko Ito and his father into cust…" the Tsuchikage begins and Hiruko's face drains of any blood that is left in it.

I don't know what drives me forward, what has me stepping around Amuro -_that a man may lay down his life for his friends. what is better, to be born good or to overcome your evil nature through great effort. when we hit our lowest point, we are open to the greatest change. mommy, mommy look, I became friends with hgiepwng! kill em with kindness. you find your greatest allies in the most unlikely of moments._ – and grabbing a hold of Hiruko's arm before the ANBU can take him away.

The Tsuchikage looks at me as though I am dirt which only makes me firm my stance, "Hiruko tried to warn us when he could, but could rarely manage it due to how closely Sato was watching him."

There is a stunned silence, because Hiruko most certainly did not do that, but then Daichi steps forward as well and nods.

The Tsuchikage suddenly very much looks his age, an ancient man dealing with a bunch of infants, "Fine, whatever. Take the father into custody at least, let it be known that this is unacceptable- to this level. Congratulations Amuro, you've been demoted to jonin-sensei. Now get out of my sight all of you."

Amuro doesn't wait, simply grabs a hold of all of our collars and shunshins out of the tower. He deposits the three of us on the ground and stands above us, arms folded.

"Want to explain what that was about brat? Because you weren't fooling anyone with that little act back there."

Daichi is giving me a sideways look, but hasn't actively moved away from me. He does move to put him between myself and Hiruko, arms folded as he stares at the still slightly shaking brunet.

There's a silence as I stare at Hiruko, thinking of how best to describe what went through my head, "Because we're twelve. And parents are dumb."

That doesn't really encapsulate what I was thinking or feeling, but it seems to be enough for both Hiruko and Amuro, the latter only letting out a sigh as he looks over us three.

"We're not Konoha brat, be careful of who you say that sort of stuff to."

/\/\/\/\

Hiruko continues to act as though he is better than us, but much more subtly than before. He seems to think that at any moment I'll turn and say that he had an active part in the planning, so refuses to actually do anything useful. Daichi seems to be planning his death, and Amuro-sensei is actively trying to avoid smacking the brat.

It doesn't really change until Amuro-sensei has us do a three-way brawl. The problem is that Hiruko has been antagonizing the two of us all week and neither of us have any patience left. Or well, Daichi never had any patience and was waiting for me to run out of it.

It's almost sad how easily together we beat Hiruko into the ground. Hiruko is definitely incredibly fast with his ninjutsu, weaving rock as though it is water, but Daichi and I have been practicing with much higher levels than him or Sato. Daichi simply crushes the walls and the rocks that come towards us and I get in close to Hiruko, leading with my tanto. He panics, bringing up his hands for another jutsu, but I'm just too fast for his fingers and crash into him, slamming him into the ground. I almost stab through his shoulder with my tanto, but something calls me back –_ don't be mean to your brother Ljsinjqpotd!_ \- and instead I level the blade against his throat, staring him in the eyes as I sit there.

Daichi approaches and stands over Hiruko's head.

"We could kill him."

Somehow I'm not surprised at all by this statement and have to think about it. Hiruko panics, trying to wiggle his way out from underneath me, but I only press the edge of the blade closer, drawing a thin line of blood. My heels dig into

I hum instead, fingers tapping against the sword, "We could." I agree mildly, watching as Hiruko's eyes widen and the thin sheen of tears beginning to collect.

"Then why don't we?" he asks, tone bordering on frustrated, "It would be easy."

_just because it's easy doesn't mean it's right_

"Perhaps I am too idealistic," I begin, looking up as Daichi sits across from me, "But I think the three of us could beat any of our opponents into the ground. Yeah we could do it just us two, don't get me wrong, we're going to be partners for years to come, it's just…" and here I look back at Hiruko, "Imagine what we could do as a legitimate team."

Daichi is silent. Amuro-sensei is nowhere to be seen.

"Do you think we could kill him and get away with it Daichi?" I ask him curiously, still watching as Hiruko fights back the tears. My feet are still on the back of his hands, pressing them into the ground, and there's a part of me that realizes that I could very easily crush his hands and ruin any chances he has at becoming a shinobi.

"Maybe." Daichi finally answers. I wait because after so long I can tell when there is more on his mind, "We could become feared?"

I nod once.

"Trial run." Daichi says.

"Well Hiruko? Thoughts?"

A long pause in which I think that I am about to kill my teammate.

"Get me out of my house and I'll make it work."

I feel an expression of disbelief make its way onto my face and I look up at Daichi, silently asking what he thought about that.

There's a distasteful expression on his face, but he says, "Three people would make rent easier."

I frown in thoughtfulness, but eventually nod and smoothly stand up from pinning Hiruko to the ground. He lets out a near silent sigh of relief, beginning to get up, but is stopped by Daichi grabbing both sides of his head and staring at him.

"I am not nearly as kind as Kyoko. Watch your step."

Then he lets go of Hiruko, stands up, and waits for me to sheath my tanto.

"Well my little bratlings. Have you fixed your issues?"

Of course Amuro-sensei shows up now.

I give a half shrug as I look up at him. He is looking us all over carefully, noting the thin line of blood on Hiruko's neck, how Hiruko is half-shying away from both of us, how Daichi is glaring murder at Hiruko.

"Things are very rarely fixed with one talk. We'll let you know how it goes sensei." I say when it becomes clear that neither of the other two will speak.

He gives us all another look, but finally nods, "Take the rest of the day off. We're going on a C-rank tomorrow, so prepare for that."

He looks us over one more time and then disappears. I can just barely sense him, his chakra tightly wound and appearing more as a bird. It's hard to pin him down, but I think I'm able to follow him. Daichi gently hitting me with his elbow has me snapping back to the here and now, looking at him curiously. There's a distasteful expression on his face, which is probably his second favourite expression to wear, but he points off into the distance.

Hiruko is walking off, shoulders just slightly slumped.

I set my shoulders and hear Daichi sigh next to me, but when I begin making my way after Hiruko, he follows after me.

"Hey Hiruko! Let's go out to eat something!"

He looks utterly surprised at the question, glancing between the two of us, but when we don't retract the offer, visibly brightens and says, "Sure!"

/\/\/\/\

We're a good team.

Hiruko was the missing link, and now that he's actively trying, I can see how one day we could be great. Amuro-sensei seems to sense it as well, pulling in other shinobi to hone our various skills, giving Hiruko access to jutsu's he would never see otherwise, having Daichi observe that one kunoichi who liked us more than the others, Rinzaki, and seeing how she could punch a man's head in. One of Amuro-sensei's old genin teammates was able to teach me a bit about kenjutsu, although he wasn't very pleased to do so.

I couldn't tell if that was because I was a girl or because Amuro-sensei had to twist his arm to get him to do so.

Regardless now I was able to do some wicked moves with it. I was still holding out for a katana though.

"Maybe once you reach chunin." Was all Amuro-sensei would say about it when I asked.

Which only kind of sucked because apparently our genin team was on the craplist due to what had happened. There was a chunin exam we could have gone to – and probably passed – but the Tsuchikage said no.

It only made us all the more determined to dominate whenever we did end up going. Also the other genin teams who had graduated at the same time liked to pick fun at us. They like to make fun of how neither Daichi nor I are good enough

Surprisingly it isn't Daichi or I who get them to stop, but Hiruko.

By virtue of dropping them in a giant pit filled with spikes and just barely avoiding skewering them. Daichi and I exchanged glances and took Hiruko out for lunch. Again.

Turns out after his father had gotten executed, his family was unhappy, to say the least, with Hiruko and everything that happened. They barely spoke to him anymore and when they did so, it was with disdain, blaming him for what had happened. I was pretty sure there was more to it, but when Hiruko fell silent and shoved more food in his mouth, Daichi kicked me in the shin and I shut my mouth.

"Bring your bed to the apartment. We'll make room for it." Daichi said.

Hiruko looked between the two of us, but finally gave a small smile. Amuro-sensei showed up to help on the moving day, even if all he did was stand there and look intimidating to the various people who try to stop Daichi and I from helping Hiruko.

The apartment is really small now with the two of us permanently living there and a third semi-permanently and one actual adult , but we make it work. We're kids yeah -_no you're not, youre a grown woman, you have a kid (kids?), you haven't been a child in years_\- but we don't really care. The small apartment only has one bedroom, but the kitchen/ living room is big so we find the room. On bad days we make one giant bed and sleep there, pretending for one moment that everything is okay.

/\/\/\/\

Working with other people is always a pain.

Daichi is too anti-social.

Hiruko has practically been disowned by his clan, so therefore is an outcast.

And I'm too odd.

The Tsuchikage still holds a grudge for us causing the death of Sato- even if no one in this village cares really, it's probably just a weird point of pride at this point- and it spreads to others. Amuro-sensei doesn't care, after all he is still willing to go patrolling near the academy and orphanage and give slightly motivational talks to small children.

Sometimes he takes us to visit them, and I find myself softening, laughing and playing with them. Daichi and Hiruko are much more awkward, preferring to sit off to the side and read. At least the two of them were able to work on their antagonism with each other without beating each other's face in.

_come on mom! can we get ice cream? please please please? …i made a new friend at the park, he's so nice, his name is wiaonrg!_

There's a tall blond who draws close every time, and something about his hair draws me near him. Daichi likes to hide in a hole that Hiruko makes for him whenever I bring the blond over. Amuro-sensei rolls his eyes whenever I bring over some new kid, but looks at me with interest as the blond comes over more and more.

"Are you planning on becoming a sensei at the ripe old age of thirteen?" he asks me as he corrects my form one day while training. Amuro-sensei can be a hard task master, ruthlessly engaging our weak points to show how anyone else would use them to make us hurt.

Disengaging for a moment and breathing heavily, the tanto weighing in my hands from how hard we've been working, "No, I just like kids. And I think if this kid doesn't have someone to turn to, things will go bad."

Amuro-sensei looks at me thoughtfully, but then attacks in a flurry of moves that has with me tumbling head over heels, loosing my grip on my tanto at some point, and groaning as my head whacks the ground.

Amuro-sensei looks amused the jerk as he stands over me, "Careful brat. Get too lost in your thoughts and you'll be greeting your ancestors."

I only groan at him and cover my eyes with my forearm. There's a nudge in my side that has me peeking to see Hiruko looking at me with amusement.

"Come on Kyoko, let's spar a bit."

I find myself grinning as I roll to my feet, searching for the tanto. Hiruko has been improving his speed with ninjutsu, fingers flying as the rocks dance around me. The spar ends with me hanging upside down, fingers just barely not able to reach the tanto.

Hiruko is grinning maniacally, Daichi and Amuro-sensei are approaching, and things actually seem to be going well.

/\/\/\/\

We make chunin. I learn to channel lightening along my blade, spitting and hissing as it screeches in a tone that makes everyone wince the first time it happens.

Hiruko examines the lightening, the jutsu, and I know he wants to say something, but he doesn't say anything beyond asking to test it in a spar.

I take to the lightening as though I am swimming, immersing myself in the crackle and roar as I find myself diving deeper into the intricacies of how to create lightening out of nothing. I don't really pay any attention to the rumours that begin to sprout about our team, too concerned with making sure neither of the other two are willing to take that step off into uncharted territory that none of us could ever come back from.

It isn't until Amuro-sensei approaches us that the problem is really brought to life; the problem is we're too close to each other and not close enough to anyone else. And even though this isn't Konoha with their tendency to put each other over the mission – something which we haven't had to deal with yet simply due to the sheer stubbornness that exists within the three of us – it concerns the higher ups.

And so while the three of us were planning on simply staying together as a well-oiled machine, the worries of old men who are dumb cause us to be scattered and assigned to other teams as needed. It usually isn't bad, at this point in my life – _second life? first life? has this happened before and if so why do i only remember this last one? _– I can handle being surrounded by jeering people –_ was i something else before this? have i dealt with the jeers and sneers before? _– and I make sure that Daichi, Hiruko, and I meet up for food whenever any of us are in village.

Amuro-sensei practically disappears once this happens, showing up at our apartment perhaps once every couple months. He says if he can find a katana, it's mine.

Hiruko and I still live in the same crappy apartment, and it surprisingly takes me a while to realize that Daichi has basically been living there as well for the past year. Oops.

I don't even realize it until I'm in the middle of a patrol and one of the other chunin in the group asks whose shirt I'm wearing. Blankly, I look down at the shirt and realize that it is a dark green shirt that I would never wear.

"Huh. Would you look at that." I said blandly, and then leap to the next outcrop, busy thinking on when exactly it got to the point of wearing each other's clothes and not even realizing.

"Tanako," the chunin whines and I take a minute to place her face with her name.

"Yes Kaimoto?" I ask, only slightly tired of the discussion that's about to happen. Part of me just wants to pull ahead of her and not answer her questions, but for some reason, trying to avoid the topic only makes it seem as though there is something to hide.

"Whose shirt is that? You never wear green things! You only wear dark red or black!"

"My genin teammates, apparently he's been leaving shirts in my apartment. I'll have to ask him if he's legitimately moving in or not now."

Kaimoto gasps in delight, "Has he finally confessed? Oh how romantic!" I roll my eyes at that because Daichi wouldn't know what romance was if it hit him over the head with a stick, "Does this mean that the three of you are in a relationship?"

"No Kaimoto. Daichi is uninterested in any of that and Hiruko has been dancing around some girl for months now. If he doesn't act soon I'm going to have to take drastic measures." I explain patiently, tuning out how she whines about the lack of romance in my life and how I need to find someone to sleep with soon.

"I'm fourteen Kaimoto. I'm not interested in doing that for a while." I say flatly when she starts waxing on about some jonin she's seen around the village and how she could set us up on a date.

That evening when I enter the apartment, I realize just how much stuff is in the tiny space. Somehow Daichi and Hiruko are moving around each other and the space without running into anything as they make something. Perching on the counter, I watch as they make something that is probably healthy, but maybe not.

The last time I tried to legit cook something I nearly burnt down the kitchen. I'm not allowed to cook anymore.

"So when did you move in Daichi? I ask, watching as they easily dance around the small space available. Daichi doesn't answer at first, too busy chopping something up, but Hiruko throws an amused glance over his shoulder at me.

"How long did it take you to notice?"

"When I went on patrol in Daichi's shirt." I answer promptly, "Then I realized that Daichi hasn't been home in a couple weeks, maybe months, and that his shirts lying around were common enough that I just grabbed it and went."

Daichi is silent as he dumps the vegetables in the boiling pot. They must be making soup or something similar.

"Parents are being weird. Not sure why. They've been bothering me to be spending more time with them at home than out on missions. Again, not sure why. Figured it would be easier to just move out. They didn't notice either until a week ago, and they don't know where the apartment is to come drag me home."

It's not the most I've heard him talk in the years we've known each other, but it ranks high on the list. His reasoning makes sense, and so in the end, I only shrug and ask if they want to move to a bigger apartment then or if they're okay staying in this one.

We decide to stay, but will revisit the idea once we hit jonin.

/\/\/\/\

Hiruko, unsurprisingly, makes jonin first. Even if he's basically disowned at this point, he is still part of a clan, and a well-respected clan at that. Daichi and I follow soon after him, and we establish ourselves as the team that we've always wanted to be.

We still have to go out with others, and that's the turning point.

After all, it's hard to be a jonin and then be told to kill small children. To be fair, we are all still kids, turning sixteen at about the same time, but it doesn't matter because we are able to do unpleasant things without flinching.

I'm on a mission with Kaimoto and a couple others, but not Hiruko or Daichi. The problem comes when I have my tanto raised, lightening crackling along the blade, ready to thrust it into the child beneath me.

And the memories hit me.

_snowflakes and pain, a spinning red eyes, prison of ice and mirrors and pain, and no not these two, they were good people mom! they shouldn't have had to die, and they shouldn't have had to come back in some twisted version of torture and mommy, why do people do bad things?_

I find myself blinking at the sky, tanto no longer in hand, a spear of rock through my side. I whine in pain as I come back to myself and have to re-center where I am and who my companions are. Kaimoto is kneeling next to me pale, but when she sees me coming back to myself, lets a shaky smile cross her face.

"Come on Tanaka, the medic is working on someone else, so you have to get up to get over to them." She says, grabbing a hold of my arm and helping me sit up, carefully, slowly, "We got everyone else, what happened?"

I can only shake my head in response, carefully getting my feet underneath me as Kaimoto pulls the arm from my uninjured side over her shoulder and managing to get the two of us standing.

There is a small body lying off to the side and I find myself paling and forcing my stomach to not throw everything up. There's blood spilling down my side, it feels as though something in my arm is broken, and my head is pounding.

Every step is painful and the rock spear seems to be moving, jostling the wound, but we make it over to the medic who, once she sees me, immediately turns away from the patient she was working on. Kaimoto managed to kill the kid, but the kid got me, and while I should be okay, I still can't quite breath.

The rest of the day passes in a blur of medical chakra, a visit to the hospital, and a discharge with a stern warning to take it easy because "gekkei genkai are weird and we never quite know what's going to happen." We don't have the best medics – _mom, i want to be like Tsunade when i grow up, can i be a magic doctor? _– no, our medics are fine, but they still worry over unknown kekkei genkai's.

The apartment is empty when I get home, cold and dark, so it's likely that neither Daichi nor Hiruko have been home in a while. I'm making myself something easy for dinner because if either of them found out I hadn't eaten after getting discharged they would probably have a conniption.

I'm putting butter on some bread when I collapse. I don't even remember hitting the floor.

_mommy, can you please cut my bread into triangles? mom, arieonvjdfo is being mean, tell owi to give me back the toy! mom, why do i have to go? grandpa hates me! plus their house always smells like prunes and old people. mom, do you want to watch this show with me….i know you miss dad. maybe this will help? I got in….mom look, i got in! i'll take care of them for you, don't worry._

_don't worry kiddo, me and your mom will watch over them. its what my brother would have wanted anyways. remember the park we used to go to? you met hioetn there. you were so excited that you made a friend. don't forget your homework arhihne! your teacher wont forgive you forgetting it again!_

"…oko! Kyoko! Can you hear me?"

I can't breathe, tears are streaming down my cheeks, and I'm fairly certain that I'm in the middle of a panic attack – _its okay thiaeorn, panic attacks are never fun, let's just breath together_ – and I pull myself out of the memory because if I'm not here and now I'll never come back. Daichi is hovering over me, expression pinched and worried as he tries to help me breathe. His hands are coated in chakra, and I focus on that light, managing to bring my hand up and clamp it onto his wrist.

The chakra stops and instead he pulls me up against his chest, wrapping me in his arms. The rhythmic breathing he's doing helps me to suck in a breath at the same time that I let out a sob.

I don't know how long I spend just trying to breathe, but eventually I am able to let out a shaky breath and sag against his chest.

There's silence in the kitchen. For a long time.

"Do you need to talk?" Daichi finally asks, "I heard you got injured, but that wasn't from the injury."

_im sorry ma'am, but your husband, there was an accident, he didn't survive. mom, what happened? where's dad?_

He sounds too sure of himself, and I can't find it in myself to lie to him. Not now, not after so long. But I don't even know how to begin the conversation or what to even say. This world is not kind, and I worry that if I say one wrong thing, I'll be stuck in interrogation as they pull all the information out of me that they can.

"Do you believe in reincarnation?" I finally manage to get out hoarsely. My throat hurts, my eyes hurt, well. Everything hurts just in general.

Daichi is silent and I don't say anything more.

"My grandfather believes in it. He thinks I'm the reincarnation of his first-born son who died the same day I was born."

There's a long silence. I'm doubting that I should even continue, but Daichi doesn't move, continues to hold me and help regulate my breathing. When I start to peel my hand from his wrist in order to move, to not put this responsibility on his shoulders as well, to just go lie in bed and cry and sleep and hopefully wake up to not be so lost, his other hand covers mine and holds me tighter.

"I remember a life before this one. In a completely different world."

Daichi is silent, then lets out a sigh, "Come on, lets get you in bed." He lifts me as though I weight nothing, which to him is probably accurate, and curls up around me in bed, "Hiruko gets home in three days. Do you want to wait for him? How long are you on medical leave?"

"A couple days. They worry because they don't know what genkai kekkei I was hit with, so they gave me a couple."

Then I fall silent, thoughts whirling and trying to suck in another breath. Daichi just stays there. We lay there for what seems to be hours as I try to control the sudden onslaught of memories of a life I barely remember anymore. It is still pitch black when the door opens, pulling me out of another downward spiral. My third or fourth that Daichi has already pulled me out from.

"Daichi? Kyoko?" Hiruko's voice is hesitant, but Daichi only makes a mumbled sound that has Hiruko eventually padding into the bedroom.

Seeing our position, he dumps his gear on the floor, stripping down to just the simple pants and shirt he has underneath before pulling down the other mattress that we have in the room and curls up around us. He smells of smoke and rocks. He doesn't push either, but it's likely that he and Daichi are communicating without actually speaking.

"Kyoko. What happened today?" it's Hiruko who asks it.

Shaky breath in, shaky breath out.

"Do you believe in reincarnation?"


	2. Chapter 2

A/N: Hey all! Life is crazy, parents are fun, school is well, and I just want to scream. But it's fine. Here's to passing all my classes with a good grade. Have fun with this chapter, it's been an adventure seeing where it leads.

/\/\/\/\

_Not enjoyment, and not sorrow,_

_Is our destined end or way;_

_But to act, that each to-morrow_

_Finds us farther than to-day_

_Art is long, and Time is fleeting,_

_And our hearts, though stout and brave,_

_Still, like muffled drums, are beating_

_Funeral marches to the grave_

/\/\/\/\

"_Do you believe in reincarnation?"_

/\/\/\/\

I can tell that Hiruko is confused because he pulls back slightly to look at me in the dark room, then draws close again, "I've never thought of it. Why do you ask?"

"Because I remember another life," my voice breaks on the last word, and it all comes tumbling out in a shaky, unsure whisper.

Daichi and Hiruko say nothing as the story spills, the story that I've ignored for years, everything that I've shoved down and tried to never think about because if I did I would drown and never be able to come back from it.

They say nothing when I finally fall silent, just continue to hold me as my body tries to have another panic attack. But held in this embrace with both of them breathing calmly, I manage to shove it down and gulp in another lungful of air.

"Do you want to do something about it? About this…story?" Hiruko finally asks into the silence, voice a near whisper. My breath stutters, but neither of them make a move to draw back or take back what Hiruko has said.

"How?" Daichi is the one to ask.

A movement that I think is a shrug from Hiruko, then, "Kill the jinchuriki before this group can. Make sure they don't go rogue. Kidnap the blonde midget from Konoha and hide him away so no one can use him. Find the red-hair midget and fix his seal. Become senseis so we can pass on our awesome skills to the next genin. I dunno. Whatever we want."

Daichi says nothing in return, obviously turning the idea over in his mind.

"We could also do nothing. This, whatever this thing is, it hurts Kyoko, and she doesn't remember everything, so we could just continue on our lives and say that this is all just a very imaginative dream." Hiruko offers when no one says anything.

I make a pained noise that has Daichi gripping me just the slightest bit tighter before loosening.

"I think Kyoko votes no." he says drily, getting a small chuckle out of Hiruko.

_i wish i was back with my family. why cant we just move on? we could see iaeron again._

The thought slams into me from nowhere and I shove it back with a ferocity that surprises myself. But I realize that it's because my family isn't just the one I left behind in the past life, but because these people right here are also my family.

"We can't do much in-village." I say, needing to clear my throat a couple of times before successfully getting the words out, "We'd have to get high enough in the Tsuchikage's graces, and I'm not sure he has ever forgiven us for that stunt with Sato."

Hiruko snorts, "Like anyone cared about Sato. The Tsuchikage just didn't like that you lied to his face. Terribly, if I might add."

Daichi laughs and I find myself letting out a blubbering laugh, managing to bring up a hand to reflexively cover my mouth. Sniffling, I let out a shuddering breath and then slowly, carefully, extract myself from their embrace and sit up, wiping at my face with my shirt. Taking a minute, I just lean over, my eyes closed, palms pressed against them.

"How would you feel about being a missing-nin?" It's Daichi who offers it, voice a near whisper. Because this is serious. Very, very, very serious. We could very easily end up dead within a day or two.

"I'm going to collapse backwards," I warn and then collapse backward, staring at the ceiling. I took a breath in, licked my lips, and then said, "That's treason."

Hiruko drops an arm over my stomach, "Like you haven't thought about it before Kyoko."

"You have a girl." I say, but it's a weak excuse, and Hiruko laughs, "You do!"

"Comparing the difference between a girl I went out on a date with twice and the genin teammate who I've known intimately for four years now, but also going back even further to the academy. I'm not going to stay here for her or for anyone else."

"Your family?" it's an even weaker excuse, and I know even before I finish the question that it won't matter to him. Tellingly, he doesn't even bother to answer the question.

"What about Amuro-sensei?" I ask after a long silence.

"You miss things Kyoko." Daichi responds. He adjusts to roll onto his back, shoulders and legs pressing against mine, "Sensei had you pinned from the beginning."

I hum, and Hiruko takes over for Daichi, "Sensei asked us once when you were planning on leaving." I blink at the dark ceiling, at the implication that sensei was able to tell even before I thought about it, at just the entire implication that sensei has had this thought, asked Daichi and Hiruko and then didn't do anything about it.

"Oh. I hadn't even considered leaving before now."

"Well. Sensei thought it might be a physical leaving of the village. Daichi and I were more worried that it would be you…well. That if you got hurt, you wouldn't fight to live."

And oh, that's something that I haven't actively considered. That…actually makes a lot of sense.

"Can we ignore that topic for a little bit?" Hiruko makes a sound of agreement and I let a sigh escape me. Daichi is still a solid presence next to me, breathing deeply. There's a thought that he's still asleep, but for a conversation like this, there's no way he would fall asleep.

"We're all off missions. We can leave tomorrow." Hiruko offers.

"I'm supposed to be leaving the day after for a classified mission." Daichi interjects, "It's a test to see if I can make ANBU."

"Huh. Really? Why didn't you say?" I ask, turning my head to look at him. He only shrugs in response. He doesn't continue, which isn't surprising, only turning his head to look at Hiruko and I.

"Come on Kyoko. Let's go save the world. After all, we're some of the idiots living in it." Hiruko says, tapping against Daichi with the arm lying across me.

_the talking racoon is always my favourite, the gun-wielding maniac. come on mom, we got to go see it together_

It has me laughing, busting my gut as I turn and bury my face into Daichi's side. The two don't say anything as I continue laughing, but I can sense their confusion. But they don't say anything more, and they let me lay there and laugh.

/\/\/\/\

They don't bring it up in the morning, but Daichi helps me back to the medic, a solid presence as he explains in short terms that I collapsed this morning. The medic immediately whisks me away, running tests until I'm ready to scream. She's frowning when we finish, obviously upset that she can't actually find anything. But since there's nothing to be done about, she extends the medical leave by a week and sends me off with Daichi.

Walking through the streets, I'm hit suddenly with how serious this idea is that we're playing with.

There's the street vendor who sells slightly cheaper food than the others, although there's a 50/50 chance that you'll get sick – _mom, i tried these things called kebabs in ieoarng, they were really good but i was likely to get sick _ – so we only get food from them when we know we don't have a mission and want to just have fun.

I stop in the middle of the road and turn to Daichi, "Are you sure? There's no going back otherwise."

Daichi stops just slightly ahead of me, then turns. There's a small smile on his face, one I'm not sure I've seen before, "Positive."

My mouth twitches upwards in a smile and Daichi comes back to drop his arm over my shoulders, leading me through the crowds. We stop at practically every vendor, and even if we don't buy something from them, they're willing to have a short chat with us. More than one mistakes us for a couple out for a stroll, but neither of us say anything beyond giving awkward smiles and fleeing to the next area.

Hiruko joins us eventually, looking exhausted, dark circles under his eyes, but he doesn't say anything and only slings his arm over my shoulders as well. It makes me laugh and then duck away, their combined weight too heavy.

_get off me hiaowrn, youre squishing me! moooommm, come on! we need to go an…_

"Hey I remember you!" the person standing in right in front of me thankfully pulls me out of my thoughts before they can go anywhere, and I refocus to see the blond kid from ages ago standing in front of me. He's almost as tall as I am, blond hair already falling halfway down his back.

A smile crosses my face, "And I remember you, Deidara right?"

He nods, folding his arm across his chest. His hair is practically covering his hitai-ati, but the thing that draws my attention is his smile, the same smile that I remember seeing once before in another life. it lacks the emptiness, but the enthusiasm is still the same.

"I've been trying to catch you for a while now, your sensei was that Amuro guy right?" he asks, interrupting my thoughts again.

I nod slowly in response, wondering where this is going. Daichi joins me on my left, Hiruko just falling back the slightest. The way they fall into formation is concerning, but I ignore it for the moment and instead concentrate on Deidara.

"I want to ask him some questions about some jutsus. I'm learning some cool stuff, but there's some stuff I'm not getting and my sensei refuses to teach me! Says I can't learn it until I become a jonin, at least!" he complains, hands waving around, "So I was hoping you would know where he is!"

"Sorry kid, we haven't seen him in a couple months. He probably won't be back for another month at least." I answer, shrugging, "Do you…" I hesitate because we are planning on leaving, but continue on regardless, "Do you want any help?"

"No," he says, shoulders slumping, but the smile stays. I pat him on the shoulder in consolation, and then begin to move around him to keep walking.

Daichi starts after me, but it takes us a couple steps to realize that Hiruko hasn't followed after us immediately. Looking behind us, we see how Hiruko has stopped next to Deidara and slung his arm around him. The two are talking quietly and Daichi and I exchange a look. Perhaps it isn't me that he needs to talk to.

Hiruko glances up once, makes a small gesture with his hand, and then turns back to speaking with Deidara. Daichi and I look at each other, and then keep walking.

We visit all the little shops around the village, stocking up on anything and everything we might need. Good supplies won't come easily if we can't actually enter a village. We use the sealing tags that Amuro sensei once…acquisitioned from a shinobi from Uzushiogakure. They're brilliant.

Some of the weapon shops look at us funny, but don't say anything. The food venders don't even question it, just happy that someone is taking their money.

And two days later, when Daichi leaves for his mission, Hiruko and I follow after him.

/\/\/\/\

It's not easy being a missing-nin. We're too used to acting like shinobi to blend into villages with civilians, and it's dangerous to wander around with our slashed hitate-ate without any care in the world. We can deal with low-level people no problem. It's the higher ones that are cause for concern.

The first time I run into another village's shinobis, we both freeze, staring at each other. He looks young, but appearances are deceiving, especially in this world. But there is undisguised fear in his face, kunai shaking in his hand. I find myself softening, hand lowering from my tanto.

"You got a sensei kid?" I ask. He flinches, and I back up a step form him, raising my hands slightly, "No worries if you don't want to answer, just a question. You know where you need to go?"

Hesitantly, he nods, hand lowering slightly. But then he hesitates and shakes his head.

"Where are you trying to go?"

"Suna. I got separated from my team two days ago, and I'm not sure where to go." He says. I nod as I mentally map out where we are in relation to Suna.

"If you want, my teammates and I can help you find your way back." I offer, he shrinks back, and I back up another step, "No worries if no. Suna is that way," I say, pointing off into the distance, "Average pace to get there gets you there in about three days."

Then I disappear into the trees surrounding us. The kid stands there, shaking slightly, but eventually he starts moving in the way I pointed.

Returning to where Daichi and Hiruko are waiting, I manage to convince them to at least escort the kid in the right direction, make sure he doesn't die and all that. The exchange glances, shrug, and then we're off to escort the kid back to Suna. He gets to the Suna border in about three days and never runs into anyone or anything that would be likely to kill him.

He pauses at the border, just in sight of the shinobi approaching him, and then he turns and gives a small half wave before immediately running for the shinobi.

A smile crosses my face.

/\/\/\/\

The second time we run into another shinobi isn't as pleasant as the lost Suna genin.

It's a team from Kumo.

The fight is fast-paced. I can't even tell if this is just because we're from Iwa, because we're missing-nin, or because Kumo is just a jerk.

I nearly lose an eye, Hiruko loses a finger, and Daichi almost loses his entire leg. It's only saved through some creative manipulation of Hiruko's jutsu's, explosions, Daichi taking my tanto and throwing it across the forest, and I think I either flashed someone or punched them in the nose. There was definitely a bleeding nose at one point that hadn't been there before.

I can't see anything out of my right eye. There's one cut above my right eyebrow; another one begins near my chin, curves upwards to barely miss my eye as it crosses the bridge of my nose and disappears on my forehead. I get them diving in front of Daichi, taking the two hits as he yells something inarticulate behind me.

I'm not even sure how we escape in the end; Hiruko is holding both Daichi and I up as he books it through the forest. Daichi's leg needs immediate attention, or else he's going to lose it. Something seems to be wrong with Hiruko as he runs, maybe his ribs, or his leg, or the fact that he's carrying two basically useless people.

Hiruko manages to find what basically amounts to a hole in the ground and he barely stops to set me gently on the ground before he is turning to Daichi's leg, face pale and concentrated as he works on healing it. Daichi is pale, sweat dripping down his forehead as he wavers between awake and unconscious. I make my way over and offer up what I can with the healing, and after what seems to be hours later, Daichi's leg has finally stopped bleeding and will probably be fine.

Hiruko and I barely take a moment to arrange ourselves around the still unconscious Daichi before we fall into an exhausted sleep.

The next morning, or at least the next time I wake up, it's to an exhausted Daichi carefully cleaning my face of blood. He's not using any chakra, just one of the old rags that we have stuffed into a bag. He gives me a tired smile, but only continues cleaning the wounds.

"Not sure how long we've been out."

I nod slowly, only to freeze when the motion makes my face hurt, "Hiruko?" I finally croak out, a hand coming up to my face only to be caught by Daichi's.

"Sleeping. Hasn't woke up yet." Daichi responds, letting go of my hand to continue cleaning my face off.

"Hey, at least you didn't die."

Daichi's face is utterly unamused as he says, "Don't take a hit for me ever again."

"Well, if it's going to save your life…" I say, but Daichi's face shutters and I fall silent.

"Not again."

I can only nod.

Hiruko wakes up a bit later, groggily rolling over to blink at us. His hair is everywhere, beginning to grow to an absurd length. I've offered to cut it, but Hiruko only waves me off. It's such an inconsequential thing to concentrate on at the moment, but right then, all I can think about is how long does he want his hair to grow.

"Hey, we're alive. Let's never do that again," Hiruko says, mumbling half the words but clear enough as he crawls over and basically collapses with his head on my stomach. It makes the breath leave me in a whoosh, nearly having me shoot upwards, but Daichi's hand on my face stops me.

"Agreed." Daichi and I say at nearly the same time. We exchange a small smirk as Hiruko covers his eyes with his arm, nearly falling asleep as Daichi continues to work on my face.

So we nearly died, but we also didn't. I'll take the win.

/\/\/\/\

It starts to go downhill when food starts getting low and we have a harder time getting it. The best stuff is in the villages, but obviously we can't just waltz into those. Foraging is not the easiest thing, and none of us are any good at it either. It starts to wear on all of us, struggling to get enough food, safe food, to feed all three of us.

Then it becomes trying to fix our weapons, trying to replace them. My tanto was never replaced after our fun little encounter with the Kumo shinobi, and our kunai and shuriken are getting dangerously low and/or unusable.

We fix our food issue with getting better at hiding our chakra and entering smaller villages, doing odd jobs to get money. Hiruko insists on budgeting things, and so now he has a small storage seal on the inside of his wrist where we put our emergency money.

But things aren't as easy as any of us thought it would be. And it starts to wear.

/\/\/\/\

Surprisingly, it isn't Hiruko who has the hardest time adjusting as a missing-nin.

It's Daichi.

There's not much we can do, Hiruko and I. Daichi almost never speaks now, and his face seems to be permanently carved from stone. To be fair to him, that's usually how he is, but Hiruko and I speak Daichi-ese incredibly well and we can tell that this is his upset silence. We can't tell if the attack by the Kumo shinobi only exacerbated the issue or caused it, but we don't really want to push. Daichi just isn't willing right now.

For three months he acts like this. It all comes to a head when Hiruko uses a jutsu and dumps water on Daichi. Daichi turns to him with an ugly expression on his face and launches himself towards Hiruko. The brunet pales just slightly and jumps upward, just barely avoiding the slam from Daichi's punch that creates a dent in the ground.

"Oh crap," I say as Daichi turns to me, ugly expression twisting even further. Hiruko and I are put squarely on the defensive, not wanting to hurt Daichi, but also very much not wanting to die.

He chases us around for an hour, destroying anything that gets in his path, but the one time he actually catches Hiruko, he doesn't rip Hiruko's heart out of his chest, even if that's what it seems Daichi will do. Instead he smashes his fist, without chakra in Hiruko's face and instantly causing a black eye, and then smashes his fist with chakra on the ground next to Hiruko's head.

He does snap my arm in two though.

When Daichi finally collapses, breathing heavily as he stares at the sky, Hiruko and I don't go near him. It's not fear that keeps us back, but the hope that by giving him the space he needs, he'll calm down.

Hiruko checks out my arm, face focused as he does his best to heal it. The one glaring downside our team has is that none of us is focused on healing. We can all do at least a little bit, but we definitely could not be qualified as medics. That will probably have to change since we don't have a village to fall back on anymore.

It's as Hiruko is finishing up my arm that Daichi joins us, face stoic again that signifies his thinking face and not his murder face. Gently, he takes my arm from Hiruko and does the finishing touches, chakra making sure that nothing else is injured.

"Sorry." He says, quietly, shamefully. I only pat him on the shoulder with my good arm, not saying anything.

"I got thinking about where we would be if we had stayed, where we could have ended up, what rank we would be, that stuff. I decided I would be ANBU, you would be a sensei, Hiruko might be in ANBU with me."

Hiruko has a small, sad smile on his face as he says, "If wishes were jutsus, we'd all be genii." Daichi snorts softly, and Hiruko continues, "If we spend all our time thinking about what could have been, we'll never be able to change the future. And not in the sense of knowing what's to come, but in general."

"Can't live in the past," I murmur and Hiruko nods.

"Exactly."

Daichi is silent as he sits back, looking at the two of us, "Are we doing stuff though? Are we changing it? We haven't done anything."

"What do you think we should be doing?" I ask him.

"Something, anything! Just…more than we're doing now."

_if you take care of the small things, the big things will take care of themselves_

"Unfortunately I don't think that we could take on the villages and win." Hiruko says drily and Daichi rolls his eyes, "I think we would be very dead before we even stepped foot in the village."

"We can start small and work our way up." I offer.

"Like what?"

"Well. We could start by saving some of those kekkei genkai kids in Kiri." Hiruko offers, "You said that there's a coup or something like that."

I nod and Daichi looks between the two of us before he nods slowly.

I don't know the timeline super well, but if we can even try a little bit, well, every little bit counts. It doesn't fix things, Daichi is still on edge, but he's lost the expressionless face he had been wearing. Hopefully he'll talk to us soon about whatever is continuing to bother him.

/\/\/\/\

Kiri is…a mess. To put it lightly. The genocide that I remember happens hasn't happened yet, but it's easy to see the tensions, see how everyone looks sideways at each other. I'm surprised at how much we don't stand out, but every shinobi looks as though they're one step away from becoming a missing-nin themselves. I'm not even sure why more of them haven't deserted.

Kids run through the street, wavering between showing only fear or only showing anger. The first time an angry shinobi backhands a street kid so hard they smash into the fall, Daichi has to hold me back, fingers digging into my arm. He only makes me wait until the shinobi is gone from sight before he lets me go though, casually, but quickly making my way over to the kid who is struggling to get to their feet. I can't even tell if they're a boy or a girl from how dirty they are. And even though the kid flinches when I get close, when I help them up, I don't stop to ask and simply check them over with some chakra. Nothing's broken, although there are some hairline fractures from the kid's arms desperately trying to catch themselves on the wall.

They watch me with wide eyes, mouth nearly sagging as I check them over.

"All good?" I ask quietly. They nod, twisting their arms around a bit, and then dash off into the alleys without a word. I straighten up and turn back towards Daichi and Hiruko. They're in the same place, just watching me, and there's something distinctly fond in both their features. Crossing back over to them, I give them a curious look that Hiruko only waves off, Daichi turning to look down the street.

"Come on, let's find an inn in this mess of a village," Hiruko says, pitching his voice so that he sounds much more excited than he actually is. Daichi actually cracks a smile at it, shaking his head slightly. The two of them are so odd. But I wouldn't ask for anything else from them.

/\/\/\/\

We don't spend much time in Kiri in the end. Tensions are too high, and we don't wear hitae-ate's. Some of the other shinobi have side-eyed us, obviously wondering what a trio of missing-nin are doing in their village, some of them have actually tried to recruit one or all of us into their rebellion, and some actually think we are in the rebellion, hence why we aren't wearing our hitae-ate's.

I usually find myself hanging with the children, street rats, in back alleys. I hesitate to teach them anything more serious, just in case an actual Kiri shinobi shows up and takes notice of what I'm doing. I try to avoid getting to know their names because then I'll be tempted to keep them. That probably wouldn't go over well with Kiri. But gosh darn it when the kids look at me with a smile, there's a part of me that just melts.

_you could be a teacher iwoegns, you like kids right? nah dad, teaching brats all day long? id rather uoiongvfwugnuj iaoerwfnaerogvn come on dad, you know that IOGNIOEBN university has the best aioarengeio program in the aoeirnnog. Jioearnge said that we could get a small apartment and live near the qeiorn as i go back to iearonnioevfno and then…_

…

_then_

…

_then_

…

When that thought runs through my head, I'm left with a migraine bad enough that I end up just curled up on the floor in the room of the hotel we rent, blankets covering me as I just try to breath. At least when my brain finally stops trying to remember the past life the migraine slowly disappears.

The kids are worried when I show up the next day, since Daichi is hovering behind me, a silent wall of pure muscle, and since he never actually interacts with the kids, it's almost painfully obvious that he's not here for them.

The one I healed when we first got here, turns out he's a boy, he looks over me carefully, but doesn't say anything. The other kids follow his lead. Daichi says nothing the entire time, only watches the kids as I interact with them.

It's a couple of days later where some red-headed lady tries to recruit us for her rebellion, having pinned us as missing-nin from the beginning. But Hiruko only gives her a half wave and heads off, busy choosing the least gross fish available. I'm sitting on a nearby roof, and when she looks at me, gives me a small nod before turning and walking down the street. It concerns me, that she leaves without chasing after Hiruko. It's obvious that she isn't going to let things lie.

_You never let anything go iaerpon. but grandma, theyre being mean. come on mom, if they're being bullies, they deserve it_

It's not surprising that we're ordered to the Mizukage's office for reporting a day later; we look at each other and know that it's time to leave. We don't see the red head again, something that I'm grateful for. Daichi looks like he's ready to pummel her into the ground, and something tells me she wouldn't take that lightly.

_spitting lava, lost family members, lost opportunities because gosh darn it kishimoto you build a world it deserves the correct attention, doesnt that make sense mom?_

We've only been here for three weeks, but it's easy to see that the whole area is a keg powder waiting to explode. The surprising part comes as we are about to head out, packs ready, essentials sealed away, and one of the street rats that we've been visiting appears out of nowhere.

"Are you leaving?" he asks, eyes darting between the three of us. He's a bit older than the other street rats, already being scouted for the academy here. He's oddly protective of the other ones, even if he barely shows it to anyone. He rarely showed up when I was with the other street rats, preferring to hang out in the back just watching.

"Thought you were smarter than that brat." Hiruko says, shifting to lean against the wall. He likes calling the kids brat, like Amuro-sensei did with us. The kid scowls at him, but doesn't dispute the nickname, choosing instead to cross his arms and plant himself in our way as though that would actually stop us.

"Fine, can we come with you?"

It's not just the fact that this street rat is the one asking, it's the 'we' portion that catches us off-guard.

"We?" Hiruko asks, almost hesitantly.

Before the kid can say anything, Daichi speaks up, "That would be a bad idea." He's not wrong, but I wince just slightly at the bluntness of the statement, watching as the kid braces himself.

"Nobody else cares in this stupid village, and yet you three, who ain't from here, care more than anyone else. Why wouldn't we want to go?" he asks, and as he speaks, four more kids appear from cracks in the alley, looking just as scared, but determined as the leader. I recognize all of them from the last couple of weeks.

Hiruko brings a hand up to pinch the bridge of his nose, Daichi looks to the sky, and I just give in and let my head fall into my hands.

"Is that what you meant by making a difference?" I mumble through my hands at Daichi. Even without looking up I can tell Daichi shoots me a glare. The kids in front of us don't say anything, only waiting for one of us to make a move.

"We can't take you with us now, where would we even put you?" Hiruko tries to reason with them, but it doesn't matter to them, only causing one of the smaller street kids to stand next to the head street rat with her arms crossed, a stubborn expression on her face.

"Better with you than stay here." She says, and it's said so resolutely than I can't find it in me to argue against it. Daichi's face is twisted in that expression that means he wants to flee from the situation, it's probably because of the emotion nearly tangible in the air. Hiruko looks conflicted as he tries to find some sort of logic on why that would never ever work.

When he finally turns to me for help, I can only shrug, "I want to keep them."

Hiruko lets out a sigh as Daichi looks up at the sky again. The street rats are still waiting, silently as they watch us begin to communicate with facial expressions only. Daichi is firmly against bring them with us, and only partially because he doesn't do emotions or small children, that particular tilt of his head has more to do with that he can barely watch our backs sometimes, adding in small children would make it even worse. If we weren't missing-nin, or if they were older who had a at least a little training under their belts, he might be more inclined, but right now they're only liabilities. Hiruko is on the fence, seeing both sides of the argument, but leaning more towards where would we even put them.

It suddenly hits me that Hiruko used to watch over his younger siblings, before the whole fiasco with his father and Sato happened.

Then another thought hits me and I stop to just think it through. The two of them are watching a bit warily, but don't do anything.

"We need a safe house," I announce out loud. The kids look particularly excited at that, obviously thinking, and thinking correctly, that once we have a safe house they could stay there.

Daichi looks at the sky again, obviously asking for patience, as Hiruko sputters just slightly, "And where are we going to find a safe house?"

"We make one Hiruko. Then the kids can stay there until they aren't likely to die the minute they step into a village."

"This is a bad idea." Daichi warns, and before I can think it through, I whirl at him.

"You were the one complaining about not doing enough, why are you fighting against the good we can do? What's wrong with taking care of them if no one else will? It's like you don't actually care!"

There's a long pause after my outburst and I press my lips closed, biting the inside of them so I don't say anything more. Daichi's expression blanks out in a way that I haven't seen since his outburst. Hiruko has a pained expression on his face, but doesn't say anything to disturb the tension between us.

Daichi and I have been friends ever since Sato tossed us aside and set his sights on Hiruko. We've been through a lot together. And I don't think I've ever felt this frustrated with him before. It's only a continuation from the argument from just before we came to Kiri. His jaw clenches as he fights back something and only reaches up with his fist to set it against his forehead, obviously trying to control himself.

Hiruko looks nervous, the kids almost mirroring his exact expression. But neither of us pay attention to them, subconsciously trusting Hiruko to herd the kids away if necessary.

"That's not what I meant Kyoko." Daichi begins.

"Really?" I'm saying before I can stop myself, "Because that's certainly what it sounds like. Maybe you should have just stayed and become ANBU."

This time, Daichi physically rears back as though I've hit him and I can't help but regret everything that has ever happened to lead up to this moment. There's a curdling in my gut that reminds me of old milk-

_right aeiornga, because youve never hurt anyone. why dont you just get off your high horse and join the rest of us peasants. just because your husband died doesnt mean you can act awful. we all have faults, eairgn, just because you dont like yours doesnt mean they dont exist. get over yourself._

-and I can't help but want to die, want to fix the mistakes I've made and pretend that I haven't just hurt my friend, my oldest friend. Daichi continues staring at me, and when I realize that I'm shrinking away, straighten my shoulders and stare back at him.

"Now that's not fair Kyoko and you know it." Daichi says, "We've been through too much for you to say stuff like that, you're smarter than that."

"Oh, I'm sorry, now I'm the idiot?" I spit back and an exasperated expression just barely crosses Daichi's face. To the kids, it's probably unnoticeable, but it's obvious to me. I glance over at Hiruko who's watching the two of us with concern in his face. When he sees me looking at him, he darts his eyes off to the side, clearly wondering if he should escort the kids somewhere else while Daichi and I figure this out.

"Well if you would pay attention to the world around you for more than a minute you might figure things out a bit faster." Daichi's remark has my head snapping back to him, an outraged expression on my face.

Out of the corner of my eye, I see Hiruko make a "yikes" face and hurriedly begin escorting the kids somewhere else.

"You think it's easy with these memories in my head Daichi? It's not as simple as just turning them off and…"

"That's not the problem Kyoko, I don't have a problem with the whole past life, the problem is you forgetting that the rest of us and our problems and the life you have right now. You're so busy looking to the past you forget about the future!"

"I am concerned about the future, that's why I'm trying to do this now, why I'm trying to help save these kids from a likely death, trying to do something good in this world that takes any bit of kindness and grounds it beneath the heel in an attempt to be a the best in this whole world!"

"Then stop looking to what might happen because of a story you once read in a life you barely remember and that only gives you migraines and instead look to the people around you!" he yells, his arms wrapped around himself as he holds himself away from me.

"I am looking around me, I am looking at the people around me, that's why I'm here, that's why I left Iwa, I thought that's why you followed me, because you wanted to do something good in this world, if you don't want to do this, then why don't you just go back to Iwa, go back and just tell them what I know and how to change and…"

But whatever I plan on saying next is cut off by Daichi's fist slamming into the wall next to my head.

"You don't look around you because if you did, if you bothered to, you would realize that I did not leave the village because of what you saw. I left because of you. No, not because of you, I left _for_ you."

This close, I can see how his eyes are actually filling up with tears, although whether they're tears of frustration, anger, sadness, or something else I can't tell. He takes in a breath, letting it out shakily, before he continues. I don't dare interrupt him.

"You're able to look at the world around you and see the bad, but also see the good, see how we can change to be good. You saw a boy who was on the edge, the edge of what, I'm not even sure, but you did, and instead of running, you stood your ground and said no. You looked at Hiruko when all I saw was someone getting in the way of what we had going and said no. You looked at that blond kid, saw something, even if it may have been leftover from some story you once read and you wanted to give some kindness.

"You look at these street rats, at these kids, and you see possibilities." Daichi says. My eyes are wide as I stare at him, he's breathing heavily, tears refusing to fall, "But you don't see the dangers, you forget them. We can barely handle ourselves, how can we take care of five brats? How can we keep them alive and well and safe when we struggle to live ourselves, you nearly lost your eye because you got in the way. We would be taking five brats out of an already volatile situation and throwing them into another volatile situation. I'm not asking you to forget about them, I'm asking you to think about yourself for just a minute, to be selfish and think about your own life and not just throw it away."

"Daichi…" I start, but he stops me by dragging me into a hug. It's desperate, it's tight, and I don't quite know what to do as he holds me against him as though I'm going to disappear into nothing.

"You aren't allowed to throw yourself away. Don't you dare do it." He mumbles into my hair. I can't say anything in response, still thrown off by his statement of that he left for me. Tentatively, I bring my arms up the best I can in his embrace and he practically shudders in the hug.

I let my eyes close as Daichi continues holding me. I don't know how long we stay like that, but eventually Daichi's shuddering begins to stop, the wetness on my shoulder conspicuous only because of who has left it there.

We only end up moving because the sun is setting and Hiruko is waiting at the end of the alley. He's standing guard, glaring at anyone who even slightly moves towards us. The other shinobi either don't care or don't dare attempt to get past him, and I take a second to be grateful for that at least. When he sees how Daichi and I have separated, he waits to make sure that we're both okay before he pushes off the wall, a concerned expression still lingering.

"The kids?" Daichi asks, voice hoarse. His eyes are red and he is walking right next to me, but Hiruko comments on none of that.

"Hiding in our room." Hiruko says unabashedly. Daichi and I stare at him, but he only shrugs, "It's going to be cold tonight."

Right. Because it gets that cold in Kiri.

When we only continue to stare at him, he asks, "Should I kick them out? You two looked like you need to be buried under a pile of malnourished children."

"That doesn't even make sense," Daichi mutters, but doesn't protest anymore, draping an arm over my shoulder and lightly shoving past Hiruko. Hiruko doesn't say anything more, only falling in step with us, arms crossed behind his head.

The walk back to the hotel is silent, the three of us only keeping an eye out for other shinobi who might attempt something. Thankfully no one does, and when we open the door to our hotel room, five pairs of eyes staring at us.

The girl is the one who shifts over from her spot on the floor, silently inviting us to lay down on their giant mess on the floor with them. I duck from under Daichi's arm and crawl gratefully into the middle of the pile. They've dumped all the bedding, pillows, and blankets on the floor, and I sink into it and close my eyes. The kids are unsure, it's obvious, but when I do nothing but lie on the ground, they relax. Of course, when Daichi picks up one of them to slip in next to me and then places them next to him, they go still again. Hiruko slips in on the other side of Daichi, one arm going underneath Daichi's head, the other wrapped around a small child.

Daichi pulls me into his arms, one of my arms draped over the kids.

"You know, one day I'll get the name of the people we invite into our lives before they manage to wiggle their ways into my heart." I mumble, and against the back of my neck, I can feel Daichi's lip quirk in a smile. Hiruko chuckles just slightly, and the sound seems to relax the kids enough where we're all able to fall asleep soon.

My last thought before I drift off is that I've forgotten something, something important, but I can't quite remember what. It's probably nothing.

/\/\/\/\

The door crashing open in the middle of the night reminds me of what exactly I forgot about.

I shoot upwards, dislodging the kid in my lap as I blink blearily at the door. There's a Kiri-nin at the door, looking entirely unamused at our situation.

"Ah crap," I say, and reach down to shove Daichi awake. Daichi in turn wakes up Hiruko which sends the kids bolting upright.

"The Mizukage is summoning all available shinobi. I'm to escort you there."

I don't answer him and instead peer around Daichi to see Hiruko not even bothering to be subtle as he whips through a jutsu, knocking the shinobi through the wall opposite the door.

"First rule of being a missing-nin brats!" Hiruko says, somehow managing to dislodge the kids and blankets in one fell swoop and leaping for the bags on the side, "Always keep your to-go bag packed!"

One of the kids is in pajamas, and Daichi just throws them over his shoulder when they get stuck in the blankets. Thankfully, the brat doesn't move and Daichi throws another kid over his shoulder, I grab my bag as Hiruko grab's one of the kids and his bag. The oldest one thankfully grabs Daichi's bag, blankets being shoved into another bag that I don't recognize but don't bother to question where it came from right now.

There's a clatter from outside and Daichi picks up a third kid to throw over his shoulder on top of the one already there. Then we're gone and running, jumping through the window as we race to the edge of Kiri.

And perhaps it's luck, perhaps its someone looking down on us, but we make it to the edge without anyone taking notice of us. Well, almost. There's a moment where one guy sees us, but considering he's carrying a kid of his own, none of us are super concerned. When he reaches for his sword, I just know that we are all giving him the same exact deadpan expression. He tries to glare, but Hiruko only snorts and leaps past him.

Daichi follows and I take a moment to give him an amused smirk that has him glaring at me, and while only his eyes are visible, it's almost easy to imagine the red rising in the shinobi's face and I let out a laugh as I follow after Daichi, Hiruko, and the children that we've sort of kidnapped. Daichi, Hiruko, and the boy are waiting on the other side of the trees, and when they spot me landing next to them, the two of them give me practically the same fond look.

"I cannot believe we just kidnapped five Kiri brats," Hiruko says, almost giddy as he drops the kid on his shoulder to the ground, fixing the bag on his back.

"Is it technically kidnapping if they ask to come with?" I counter, moving the bag to my front and taking the smaller child and putting them on my back, "Hiruko, you got the leader here?"

"My name is Hideki," he says, only slightly whining as Hiruko pulls him onto his back.

"Sounds good brat," Hiruko says, still in that giddy tone.

The three of us exchange glances, and then we begin making our way through the forest, none of us entirely sure where we are headed, but knowing that we'll figure it out as we go.

/\/\/\/\

The kids are a riot.

I knew I would like them, but I didn't think I would like them this much. There are five of them, which I definitely wasn't sure about for the first couple days because of how much running around they did, but there are five.

Hideki is the street rat leader boy, doesn't know how old he is, and likes plums with a concerning passion.

Akihiro is almost 80% certain his last name is Motoi, but isn't sure if it is actually his or something he just picked up one day. He also has a tendency to breathe fire.

Yumi Okajima is a clan kid with a kekkei genkai but won't actually share what it is -which is understandable considering Kiri- hates being alone with Daichi or Hiruko, and loves to build things with her hands.

Misa is a riot. Honestly, she may be my favourite brat just because of how she torments the others. In particular she loves to rile up Daichi, asking him in a very sincere voice if he ate rocks to improve his strength, and then when Daichi says yes in one of the flattest voice I've ever heard him speak in, she actually tries to feed him rocks.

I can now say that I've seen Daichi do a spit-take of his meal.

Koji is the smallest of the brats, almost never speaking, and usually shadows Hiruko around, clumsily copying the jutsu's Hiruko uses.

It's almost entertaining, the way the kids are the ones who make it all work. If it were just up to the three of us, it would be a lot more difficult. But the kids are the ones who are determined to make it work, and I know that everything is going to work when I catch Daichi, the one who was the most concerned about it, carefully working with Yumi as she works on her kekkei genkai. As it turns out, it's a sort of power absorption thing, which she doesn't know a whole bunch about.

From what us three adults can tell, there was some sort of incident involving her kekkei genkai, a man, and the middle of the night. The implications make me want to find him, chop him into pieces, and bury him in the ocean.

But Yumi is quiet, almost trembling, and Daichi is speaking softly, palm upright as he tells her that it will all be okay and it nothing bad will happen. It takes a while, but Daichi is patient, and eventually Yumi places her hand on his. She flinches violently, and I can't see anything happening, but suddenly she pulls back violently and her other fist comes up to strike Daichi across the eye. I'm not expecting anything to happen and have to do a double take when Daichi is actually knocked backwards, a startled look on his face, or at least the portion that I can see not covered by his hand.

He takes it off and my eyes widen at the bruise already blossoming across his cheekbone.

Yumi bursts out crying.

Daichi doesn't crowd her, just smiles at her gently, and sets himself upright, kneeling across from her, "Hey kiddo, don't worry about it, you can't expect to get it in one go. It doesn't even hurt anymore, see?"

Yumi dares to glance up, eyes filling with more tears at the still blue-purple skin. But Daichi only brings up his hand, glowing green with healing chakra, and has the bruise gone in seconds. Yumi is utterly silent.

Daichi waits, and finally, eyes still teary, still trembling, Yumi smiles tentatively.

And for just that moment, everything is perfect.


End file.
